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Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man: “Tangled Web” Review

Published on February 13, 2025February 12, 2025 by SkyeLeave a comment

Skye’s Thoughts

It’s safe to say: I’m hooked on Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. After the previous episode, “Scorpion Rising,” “Tangled Web” complements it perfectly. Considering how heavy and action-packed the previous episode was, this episode is more introspective and patient. As a result, some of the most emotional moments of the series so far came out of this episode.

Peter doubts his abilities as Spider-Man after being put out of commission by Scorpion. It feels genuine and heartbreaking when Peter breaks down in front of Aunt May. That was the closest I’ve come to tearing up in this series so far. I imagine I’ll be bawling when Lonnie passes the point of no return.

Speaking of Lonnie, his progression from lovable meat-head genius to cruel and hardened gang member, has been done believably. Getting him into the 110 in the first place was kinda forced, but now that he’s in it, he’s started embracing the violence. In a way, it reminds me of Walter White’s progression from Breaking Bad. Only much faster. He starts committing criminal acts to protect his family only to eventually realize he loves it and fully surrenders to crime. There are many opportunities for dramatic moments here, and they start with Pearl breaking up with Lonnie. 😦

Norman’s development is the most interesting. In a surprise twist, the creators make us think he’s going to coin a famous Spider-Man phrase, but he spins it. In the process, he reveals his true personality. Instead of saying “With great power comes great responsibility,” he says “With great power comes great respect.” Norman thinks Peter needs to use his powers to make these criminals submit to him, and I’m getting excited about the Green Goblin’s introduction. We already saw the Goblin Glider in the last episode.

I could talk about Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man for pages on end; I love it that much. Also, never once have I skipped the intro. And I never will. There’s a lot that went down in this episode, and plenty I didn’t discuss. Season, what are your thoughts?

Season’s Take

I also liked Norman changing the famous “responsibility” to “respect.” He makes the phrase his own. This is very telling for his character. It’s a very “Norman” thing to say.

Harry played quite the role in “Tangled Web,” acting as Peter’s confidant when he didn’t think he could talk to anyone else. It’s a little on point when Aunt May said she wanted Peter to have a person he could confide in like Uncle Ben. However, I’m digging the exploration of Harry’s character.

Nico takes a back seat in this episode, and that’s warranted. I don’t think there was much they could have done with her in this episode. Pearl and Lonnie breaking up makes me wonder if this will be the catalyst for Pearl becoming Wave in the coming episodes. I kind of hope it’ll happen before the end of Season 1.

We saw him in “Unicorn Unleashed!” as Dmitri Smerdyakov. Today, we saw him as “Chameleon,” dealing as an information broker. I never thought a plain white mask would be so iconic.

Thank you for reading. If you’d like to dive deeper into Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, follow this link for episodes 6, 7, and 8’s Secrets (Easter Eggs).

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man: “Scorpion Rising” Review

Published on February 13, 2025February 12, 2025 by SkyeLeave a comment

Skye’s Thoughts

So…things are looking pretty bleak right for the Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man gang. Nico and Peter’s relationship is on the rocks. Pearl just found out Lonnie’s secret. Norman’s second identity is starting to appear. And, to top it all off, Scorpion nearly killed Spider-Man. Despite the huge moment at the end of the episode, I still found myself caring a lot about Peter’s and Lonnie’s social life.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man balances genuine character moments with harsh comic-book action well. I was worried in the last episode that the show wouldn’t be able to deliver on the plot threads it set up. Thankfully, the show is proving me wrong. Now that we’ve had ample time to get to know these characters, their personalities, choices, and struggles are falling into place. Considering this is a superhero story, the social drama is surprisingly fun to watch. In my opinion, because it subtly reveals a lot about Peter’s friends’ backstories.

With Nico, we’ve seen her win an impromptu street race with the help of Harry’s rich car, and her crystal necklace. As someone who’s into crystals and tarot, this speaks to me. Not only that but the way she and Harry have been interacting shows who they are. Harry has a shaky relationship with his father. After learning Norman called Harry to talk for Peter and not his own son, Harry deflates. Nico has a difficult family life too, and the show implies she and Harry would make good friends.

With Lonnie, it’s not looking good. Both he and Pearl got caught up in the Scorpion’s attack on the 110, and this makes me even more excited for what’s to come. I will say, the way Pearl found out Lonnie’s secret was a bit forced. Dre texts her because he somehow knows Pearl’s phone number. I don’t know.

I want to keep talking about this show because it ignites the imagination. If you’d like to discuss the show with us, leave a comment and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can. I don’t want to take too long though, so let’s let Season have a turn.

Season’s Take

I agree with Skye that Pearl showing up at 110 did feel a bit forced in the sense of the timing. I think she would have shown up regardless due to her worry for Lonnie and Dre’s being upset with Lonnie for taking “his thing.” She just happened to show up at a violent moment in the show because drama.

I like that Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has, so far, not been as centered on Spider-Man himself as opposed to Spider-Man stories in other mediums. Don’t get me wrong. We see a lot of Spidey. I’m just enjoying the time we get to spend with not just the other characters, but how other characters in the show interpret Spider-Man/Peter Parker. There are moments sprinkled throughout the show of people speaking for Peter when he’s not around (mostly Nico and Harry).

Speaking of Nico and Harry, I thought it was cute watching them become friends naturally. The scene with Nico racing in Harry’s car to stand up for him was one of this episode’s highlights.

I thought Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man was more of a kids’ show at first glance. After watching “Scorpion Rising” through to the end, I’ve changed my tune. I don’t think many kids’ shows have stabbings in them. The Easter egg of Norman Osborn’s Goblin Glider swooping in to save Spidey at the end served as a nice precursor for what’s to come.

Thank you for reading. If you’d like to dive deeper into Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, follow this link for episodes 6, 7, and 8’s Secrets (Easter Eggs).

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man: “Duel With the Devil” Review

Published on February 13, 2025February 12, 2025 by SkyeLeave a comment

Skye’s Thoughts

Ah, another Wednesday. Time for more Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man! In my opinion, this episode laid out interesting future story threads. While I was intrigued by the ideas in the previous episodes, I mentioned that it didn’t feel like they were progressing. Now, everything is falling into place.

In fact, so much happened in this episode that it’s difficult to cover in one post. Just a heads-up: Spoilers. Lonnie’s connection with the 110 Gang catches up with his everyday life. School is getting difficult for Peter, Pearl, and Nico. Especially after Nico found out Peter’s secret. Thanks, Harry. There’s more to Norman than what’s on the surface after Spider-Man’s encounter with Daredevil (hence the episode title). And Mac Gargan’s Gang has tracked down the 110’s hideout while getting outfitted with Octavius tech. Yeah. That’s a lot.

If I had to nitpick anything, the show’s feeling overcrowded. Sure, each of these developments makes me want to keep watching, but there are a lot of them for one episode. I can see why these episodes are 30 minutes. Despite longer episodes, will it be possible to give each of these story threads the attention they need?

I mentioned in the past that it felt like the show was looking for excuses to keep audiences watching. By throwing in major developments at the end of episodes, it seemed like the show was desperate for viewers. What I like about these new developments is that, after the buildup of the previous plot threads, it feels like they’re starting to amount to something. That’s where I give leeway.

Of course, there’s still time for this show to either wow me or disappoint me (I hope it’s the former), but let’s throw it over to Season before I start rambling.

Season’s Take

For me, “Duel with the Devil” didn’t feel overcrowded so much as expecting to have a long run with the dozens of characters. I mean, it’s Spider-Man. They’re likely going to get several seasons out of this show. Spider-Man also has a large rogues gallery. If this show is taking notes from Harley Quinn, they’re going to explore many of Spidey’s rogues.

That said, I do like the time the show takes to pull in smaller Spider-Man villains as part of the main cast. As someone more familiar with the prolific Spider-Man villains, it’s nice to see something different. The show progressed naturally with this episode having a lot of rising action regarding relationships between the characters and themselves. We saw a bit of doubt in previous episodes, but “Duel With the Devil” brought that doubt to the forefront.

The way it is now, the show is somewhat predictable. We know Norman Osborn is going to be the Green Goblin at some point and we already saw Lonnie get his nickname as Tombstone. Nico will likely become Sister Grimm or The Gloom. I really hope they go with the latter. Harry’s a bit of a wild card. I’m curious to see who he chooses once the inevitable Green Goblin/Spider-Man showdown occurs. If I’m wrong about my predictions in future episodes, I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Thank you for reading. If you’d like to dive deeper into Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, follow this link for episodes 6, 7, and 8’s Secrets (Easter Eggs).

Harley Quinn: “Breaking Brainiac” Review

Published on February 7, 2025February 6, 2025 by SeasonLeave a comment

Season’s Thoughts

Brainiac has been hinted at for the past few episodes. Now, it’s his time to shine. And boy, do we get a lot of Brainiac this episode.

I’m going to be honest. I wasn’t expecting the first half of “Breaking Brainiac” to include Brainiac’s backstory. I suppose I should have expected it since we saw the creation of Floronic Man in “Back to School.” It was emotionally charging for me, but it wasn’t as dark as Ivy’s backstory in previous episodes. Since “Breaking Brainiac” didn’t have as dramatic shifts in tone, the inclusion of jokes throughout Brainiac’s backstory softened the blow for his family’s demise.

Lena Luthor flips a switch in this episode. Well, I guess she was going to do whatever she felt was best for her. I wasn’t sure which way they’d decide to go with her. Who knows? She may help out Harley and Ivy in the future. I think she’ll come out the other end of the Brainiac saga relatively unscathed.

I liked the lack of Harley and Ivy in “Breaking Brainiac.” We had two heavy Ivy episodes in a row. The way things were set up by the end of “Floronic Man,” it looked like we’d have another heavy Harley/Ivy episode. They haven’t had a chance at being side characters for a bit.

Kyra’s Take

I agree that Harley Quinn does well when it takes a break from the title character, and “Breaking Brainiac” was a welcome break from Harley and Ivy. We’ve gotten a lot of heavy Harley/Ivy episodes lately.

Despite Harley Quinn weaving in Floronic Man’s backstory into present events during “Back to School,” Brainiac’s flashback in “Breaking Brainiac” dominated this week’s episode. It may have taken up more than half of the episode. I don’t know how Harley Quinn could have done this differently. Even though this was a major shift, the audience needs to know who this version of Brainiac is, and following the episode where Harley and Ivy get kidnapped by Brainiac is a good excuse to hit rewind and explore this new character.

Harley Quinn stays true to classic DC Comics characters while taking these characters in a different direction. “Breaking Brainiac” is no exception. I squeed when Brainiac’s son shrank a city filled with people and waited for Harley Quinn to show us Kandor. Harley Quinn delivered on that promise. It also delivered with a heart-felt Brainiac story. I’ll echo Season’s sentiment, jokes soften the blow of Brainiac’s family’s demise. These jokes come in the form of an android suffering through domestic bliss.

When we catch up with Harley and Ivy and the now, we see Brainiac struggling with the loss of his family. However misguided, he wants to achieve perfection so no one has to suffer the fate his family did. Ironically, he views Harley as Metropolis’s biggest imperfection, which makes me wonder why Lena Luthor, who is revealed to be working with Brainiac, invited Harley to Metropolis and why she insists on Harley staying. My tension sense is tingling.

“Breaking Brainiac” lays down a great foundation. I can’t wait to see where this season goes. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

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Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man: “The Unicorn Unleashed!” Review

Published on February 6, 2025February 5, 2025 by SeasonLeave a comment

Season’s Thoughts

We’ve hit the third episode in a row this week. More revelations come to light at the end of the episode in addition to some friendship woes. Let’s go!

“The Unicorn Unleashed!” features four Russian criminals working together. They outright say what their villain counterparts are (except for Dmitri, the Chameleon). This episode centers on Mila Masaryk as The Unicorn through Otto Octavius’s gear. She busts her friends out of jail but gets power-hungry. There already wasn’t much of a sense of camaraderie among the four in “Hitting the Big Time,” so this wasn’t unexpected. I’m unsure if Mikhail’s son is going to be the Rhino in future episodes or if they’ll have Mikhail be the Rhino. I’m leaning toward the latter.

Peter’s friendship with Nico is suffering as he’s making less time for her and being dismissive. This could lead into her origin story and I’m hoping it does. This uneasiness was sprinkled throughout this episode more than it was in “Hitting the Big Time,” so I’m hoping they explore it more in future episodes. That brings me to Lonnie.

We got a lot of Lonnie in Episode 4. They kept that momentum going with Episode 5. Lonnie gets called into a gang fight against the Scorpions and saves Big Donovan’s life. I half-expected him to ask for his freedom from the gang as a reward. Instead, he asked Big Donovan to stop calling him “Superstar.” Tombstone is born.

Skye’s Take

Lonnie continues to be my favorite character. Despite not being the focus of this episode or the previous, he steals the screen every time he’s on it. Especially now that he’s officially “Tombstone.”

Even though Lonnie’s transition is good, the Peter/Spider-Man stuff is still cool. Things move forward in his story: his new relationship with Harry (after discovering his identity), his current relationship with Nico, and crime fighting. Weirdly, I’m more interested in Lonnie’s story. Don’t get me wrong, I like Spider-Man as much as the next person, but now that Lonnie’s story is popping off, Spider-Man feels like a side story. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen Spider-Man done so many times before. Some of the general crime-fighting fare is a bit old to me now. Heck, even Peter struggling with his social life is a bit overplayed.

While more villains were established, mostly with Doc Ock in the opening and the gender-swapped Unicorn, it still doesn’t seem like much is being done with them yet. I can respect the creators biding their time and waiting for the opportune moment to release them, but it feels like cliffhanging for viewers. If you promise enough villains for seasoned fans, eventually you’ll hook them whether or not you deliver.

Lonnie’s story alone is enough to keep me coming back to this show. Although, if they unveil a big-name Spider-Man villain soon, that’d help spice up the Peter stuff.

Thank you for reading. If you’d like to dive deeper into Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, follow this link for episodes 3, 4, and 5’s Secrets (Easter Eggs).

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man: “Hitting the Big Time” Review

Published on February 6, 2025February 5, 2025 by SeasonLeave a comment

Season’s Thoughts

Last episode, Peter waffled back and forth between partnering up with Norman Osborn. This episode, they go full swing into a partnership—with a twist ending.

“Hitting the Big Time” had quite a bit of Lonnie. We get to see his encounter with the Scorpions. Lonnie didn’t seem to fully understand the gravity of his situation until his chat with Big Donovan after this encounter. I’m thinking he’ll take down Big Donovan in the coming episodes then continue to run the gang as the ringleader if we’re to go by his comic book counterparts.

We get to see Spidey go through a myriad of costume changes. We won’t talk about the individual suits here, but this segment provided a pseudo identity crisis for Spidey. I say “pseudo” because Osborn pressured him into trying the different suits that didn’t fit. Spidey knew who he was from the beginning. Getting to see the different suits in action was a goofy treat.

Toward the end, Spidey’s identity gets revealed to Harry Osborn by mistake. Oops. On the plus side, Harry seems to think it’s cool. Spoilers, we also catch a glimpse of Otto Octavius. End of spoilers.

Skye’s Take

This episode was entertaining despite not having too much bearing on the story. The biggest additions in this installment involved Lonnie while Peter worked with Norman.

Lonnie deals with gang life and he’s not ready. Things get real when Lonnie meets a rival gang, led by none other than Mac Gargan. Lonnie’s reaction to this shift is believable. At first, he treats gang life as an excuse to get some study time in. After learning that belonging to a gang puts a target on his back, he reluctantly continues doing jobs for them to protect his family. Clearly, the wheels are turning for him to become what we all know who he’ll become, and it’s legit riveting. At this point, Lonnie’s my favorite character.

Back with Peter and Norman, they try out a series of different suits to see what works. It’s pretty funny. While it’s not essential to the plot, it is fun to watch and is much funnier than the humor in earlier episodes.

While I like where this series is going, I still have one problem. A lot of future villains are being teased right now. Newly added villain teasers are The Scorpion and Doc Ock, but when are they going to, you know, do something? By this point, several future villains are set up, but nothing is being done with them.

Although maybe that’s to come in the next episode. I can only hope. And I’m excited to find out. 😉

Thank you for reading. If you’d like to dive deeper into Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, follow this link for episodes 3, 4, and 5’s Secrets (Easter Eggs).

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man: “Secret Identity Crisis” Review

Published on February 6, 2025February 5, 2025 by SeasonLeave a comment

Season’s Thoughts

I said last week I expected to see Norman Osborn as Green Goblin within the next few episodes. Now, I’m kind of hoping that’ll be the Season 1 finale. Without watching Episodes 4 and 5 prior to this review, let’s swing into “Secret Identity Crisis.”

We didn’t linger too long on Peter’s mental crisis after Norman revealed that he knew of Peter’s identity as Spider-Man. Normally, I’d like to explore this a bit more but, for this show, it would feel out of place. That said, we got to learn a bit about Nico’s situation during this segment. She’s in foster care. If they’re going to lean into a variant of the Runaways narrative, I’m digging this backstory.

I’m not sure I cared too much for Lonnie’s kid brother joining a gang. He seemed disgruntled but, overall, a good kid. It wasn’t entirely unexpected since we saw how Lonnie was followed by the cops (among other things) in “Amazing Fantasy.” This felt a bit forced. However, Lonnie turning himself over to the gang to save his brother does make sense for his character. I’m curious to see how he’ll become Tombstone later.

One last thing. I thought it was endearing to see Peter save Uncle Ben’s camera. The camera backstory isn’t something I’ve seen much of. I found myself saying, “Aw.”

Skye’s Take

While I started having doubts in the last episode, the show is back on track with this one. At first, I thought the show was moving too fast and I couldn’t tell where they wanted to take the show. Their intentions are now clear. In fact, this episode was kinda cute.

I latched onto each character. Not gonna lie, I was surprised to see how caring and positive each character is, especially Norman Osborn. Considering how the previous episode ended, I expected him to go into full Goblin mode real soon. However, he’s far from that. Norman seems genuinely pleasant and willing to help Spider-Man after learning his identity, and that’s a nice spin on the idea. The Spider-Man stuff is getting more interesting as Spider-Man’s “Guy in the Chair” is literally the Green Goblin.

I agree with Season on the Lonnie stuff. His brother Andre joining a gang was out of left field, but the show needed to get Lonnie into a gang somehow. It also makes Lonnie a more complex character. Knowing his future as Tombstone, seeing him vulnerable around his family sets him up as a tragic character. I’m looking forward to the episode when they rip my heart out with him becoming Tombstone.

With minimal gripes on this episode, and prior to watching the other two, I’m back on board. Let’s keep this Spider-Train a rollin’ with more great episodes.

Thank you for reading. If you’d like to dive deeper into Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, follow this link for episodes 3, 4, and 5’s Secrets (Easter Eggs).

Harley Quinn: “Floronic Man” Review

Published on January 31, 2025January 30, 2025 by SeasonLeave a comment

Season’s Thoughts

Last week, I thought Ivy’s secrecy would come back to bite her. Boy. It really came back to bite her this week. Ready to enter the Green?

As denoted by the title, Dr. Woodrue (Floronic Man), chose to enact his revenge on Poison Ivy. This was foreshadowed at the end of “Back to School,” but I wasn’t sure if they were going to focus on a different story in Episode 3 and circle back to Floronic Man. This episode also incorporated dramatic shifts from the darker parts of the story with Ivy and ridiculousness with Clayface.

Clayface going to Metropolis after getting a negative review from the Daily Planet made the episode for me. I enjoy Ivy’s edgy backstory, but, like, it’s Clayface. Harley Quinn does a good job of shifting the narrative drastically throughout an episode while keeping the audience engaged. I try to avoid spoilers, but I do have one here. Harley “killed” Floronic Man at the end of the episode. I say “killed” in quotes because Ivy thought she killed him at the end of “Back to School.” I feel like he’d need to be burned or something. Then again, Scarecrow didn’t make it past Season 1. End of spoilers.

We’ve gotten some more foreshadowing for the next episode. Will the big baddie who made an appearance at the end of “The Big Apricot” be featured or will we have to wait a bit longer? Personally, I’d like to see him at the season finale.

Kyra’s Take

While I could also wait a bit longer for this season’s big bad to make a full appearance, I don’t think Harley Quinn will stay in Metropolis for more than one season. And this season’s big bad makes little sense outside of Metropolis. I’ll stop avoiding spoilers and just name the season’s big bad: Brainiac. Brainiac needs Metropolis, and Superman must feature in the story.

Harley Quinn has taken its time to move characters from Gotham to Metropolis. I love a good Clayface B Story, and this week’s Clayface B Story delivered. It doesn’t hurt that Bane joined in on the Clayface goofiness. This story thread does more than offer the laughs, while Ivy’s story grew dark. Clayface promotes his career. He does so in the most Clayface way possible, over-the-top. He kidnaps the Daily Planet’s editor-in-chief Perry White, and infiltrates the newspaper disguised as White. This was a clever way for Harley Quinn to introduce larger story elements. The big bad makes moves in Metropolis. We learn about some of these machinations through pitched Daily Planet headlines, but Clayface only cares about his review. Love this. It’s brilliant.

Ivy’s backstory gets a satisfying end. Floronic Man may be little more than a villain of the week. I got Arrowverse vibes from how Harley Quinn treated him, but that works in an animated series like Harley Quinn. As Season said, Harley Quinn killed off Scarecrow in Season 1. It did the same to multiple major Batman villains. I like how no one’s safe, not even someone who usually factors into one of the main cast’s origins.

The show does a good job of maintaining forward momentum and giving the impression that there’s a satisfying ending for this season’s story while keeping the audience guessing. I like how the show could go in multiple directions. Heck, Harley Quinn could stay in Metropolis for a second season. There are plenty of Superman villains to explore.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man: “The Parker Luck” Review

Published on January 30, 2025January 29, 2025 by SeasonLeave a comment

Season’s Thoughts

Two episodes in one day? Did I win the lottery? Disney decided to give us big bucks this week. Joking aside, “The Parker Luck” kept the momentum of “Amazing Fantasy” and catapulted the story forward.

There was a recap at the beginning of “The Parker Luck,” which I normally wouldn’t mind if I knew the episodes were aired one week after the other. “The Parker Luck” and “Amazing Fantasy” dropped on the same day, so the recap felt unnecessary. It also needlessly padded the runtime (which is three minutes shorter than “Amazing Fantasy”) with this addition. That said, I’m digging the intro. I refuse to skip that intro.

Since he was introduced at the end of Episode 1, I’ll name drop him here. I’m loving the arc of Norman Osborn approaching Peter to offer him an internship, followed by another turn at the end of the episode. Once again, they wasted no time in propelling the story forward. However, I wasn’t a fan of Peter making plans with Nico then not showing up because of his other obligations. It’s overdone and trope-y. This is a kids’ show, so I won’t nitpick too much, but that trope gets old real fast.

I’m expecting to see Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin within the next few episodes, if not Episode 3 next week. We may see the counterparts of other characters during that time, too.

Skye’s Take

While the pilot episode proved to be a solid opening, this second episode got more mixed feelings out of me. “The Parker Luck” does have good things in it, but it left me asking “What’s the goal of this show?”

Since the episode ended with one of the main characters discovering Peter’s identity, I’m not sure where else this show can go from here. Sure, Spider-Man: No Way Home also dealt with Peter living with his identity going public, but at least that Spider-Man had been established for some time. Once again, I’m still not sure if I like this Spider-Man yet. It seems to me that the show is throwing a lot of major plot developments in the first few episodes to encourage viewers to keep watching. Given the show is still in its infancy, it’s moving way too fast.

However, I still feel satisfied with the relationship between Peter and his friends. Despite my other complaints, I enjoy seeing Peter hang out with Nico and Lonnie. This is also why it was so frustrating when he didn’t make it to the party in the episode. Believe it or not, this Spider-Man show is hooking me with its Peter Parker content more than its Spider-Man content. There were a few characters that appeared in the episode which are clearly being set up for future episodes. Dr. Connors and, of course, Norman Osborn who’re soon to be The Lizard and The Green Goblin respectively, but there’re undoubtedly more to come. As a Spider-Man fan, I can’t deny that there’s a novel feeling to seeing these characters appear knowing what they’ll eventually become.

Despite some reservations, I’m excited for this show and look forward to more surprises.

Thank you for reading. If you’d like to dive deeper into Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, here’s a link to the Secrets (Easter Eggs) page for the first two episodes.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man: “Amazing Fantasy” Review

Published on January 30, 2025January 29, 2025 by SeasonLeave a comment

Season’s Thoughts

Whoa! Spider-Man got aged down again in his new show on Disney+. Not going to lie, the thirty-one minute runtime intimidated me at first. Despite this, the episode didn’t feel like a thirty-one minute long pilot. Grab your web shooters and let’s swing through Episode 1 of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.

First impression: the art style. This was jarring for me when I looked at promotional materials for the show. I don’t dislike it, but it does take some getting used to. There were a few scenes at the beginning of the show depicting Peter getting ready through animated comic book panels, which was cute. I hope they do more of this in future episodes.

In the opening paragraph, I mentioned the runtime. I anticipated the spider bite scene to be at the end of the episode, but they wasted no time getting into it. The opening sequence of Peter getting ready/being late on his first day of school dragged a bit. He spent a lot of time telling Aunt May how much he appreciated her, which was heartwarming, but I don’t think it warranted two separate scenes within the first ten minutes. There were several characters who got introduced right off the bat, some of whom will likely become villains later on down the line. I won’t name drop, but there is a major Spider-Man villain who gets introduced at the end of “Amazing Fantasy.”

One last thing before I let Skye take the wheel—toward the end of “Amazing Fantasy,” real-world problems were showcased. The most notable examples are Lonnie getting followed by a cop on his walk home and someone who stole cash after losing their job. I won’t hang on this for long, I appreciated the inclusion of these moments. It makes the show more grounded.

Skye’s Take

Thank you for the stirring introduction, Season. I must say, after watching the first episode of this new Spider-Man series, I was pleasantly entertained. For the most part, it seemed to combine both old and new concepts we’ve seen in Spider-Man stories before. In the process, it created a world that looks familiar yet still feels fresh.

Regarding Season’s comment on the animation, I thought it was good with some noticeable imperfections. Overall, it’s pleasing to the eye, but it isn’t as good as Into or Across the Spider Verse. Part of me wonders if the animators were attempting to imitate that style by blending hand-drawn and CG animation similar to what those films did.

Despite that, this show proved to me that it was on the right track. The action was energetic and well-paced. We were introduced to a bunch of characters, but each of them seems likable with room to grow. Even the voice acting was pretty solid. There were some notable exceptions with some of the extraneous characters, but what can you do? If I were to harp on anything: the jokes aren’t that funny. The jokes got no more than a chuckle out of me, but comedy is subjective.

I’ll piggyback off another of Season’s comments. While I’m not opposed to including a moment like Lonnie getting racially profiled in a kid’s show, the moment comes out of nowhere. Suddenly, we’re supposed to feel bad for a character we barely know, and it comes across as Disney just trying to earn brownie points with minorities. Disney has a history of pandering to minorities on-screen, while behind closed doors, it’s a different story. If this story beat returns, I may have different thoughts.

Ultimately, this was a good start to a (potentially) good series.

Thank you for reading. If you’d like to dive deeper into Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, here’s a link to the Secrets (Easter Eggs) page for the first two episodes.